Russian propaganda: Brussels Attacks “Europe’s fault. Or maybe staged”

The appalling March 22 terrorist attacks in Brussels attracted a lot of attention in pro-Kremlin media outlets. Sadly, most chose to spread confusion, fear and mistrust via disinformation stories about the tragic events, reads the DisinfoReview by EEAS East StratCom Task Force.

“A repeated accusation was that the bombing was Angela Merkel’s fault: because she invited refugees to Europe (although the attackers were not refugees); or because she held talks with President Erdogan, who supposedly founded Daesh. Many European outlets also multiplied disinformation, originating in Russia, that Chancellor Merkel had previously taken a selfie with one of the attackers,” according to the report.